We did some during the officer survivability training portion of our time at the academy, but at no point were were formally shown how to stack up and enter a room, "slice the pie" or otherwise clear a structure. This was just one of many glaring shortcoming in training I saw during the academy.

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We have a 40 hour class we put on that has building clearing and Traffic/felony stops.. training uses sim guns.

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Well when a naked man is chasing a woman down an alley with a butcher knife and a hard on, I figure he's not collecting for the red cross...Inspector H. Callahan

We have a 40 hour class we put on that has building clearing and Traffic/felony stops.. training uses sim guns.

+1 !!!!

I've spent years learning it. Put more top end teams through it than I can count. Seen military teams from a few nations do it. Rarely see it done without at least once of the "good guys" taking a hit. Often, a few of them.

Sometimes I think that God invented stairwells for the sole purpose of killing good guys.

We did some during the officer survivability training portion of our time at the academy, but at no point were were formally shown how to stack up and enter a room, "slice the pie" or otherwise clear a structure. This was just one of many glaring shortcoming in training I saw during the academy.

Thats so suprising and sad. Especially considering the fact that in that agency you might be by yourself when you have to do it.

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We spent a lot of time on Traffic Stops though. Our instructors taught us using the S.T.O.P.S. (Strategies and Tactics Of Patrol Stops) program that was started by an officer that used to work in the area I live in.

When we did building searches, two SWAT Lieutenants (one retired) taught us. We learned how to stack up and walk up/down stairwells, how to enter a room, etc. We were put through a mock scenario.

In the academy? Maybe 4 hours. I got some more formal training when I went to Active Shooter Instructor Class. 3 days worth, including A LOT of hands-on scenarios and such. Good stuff, but definitely a perishable skill.

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We spent a fair amount of time training for building searches at the Academy. However, they put us in groups of four to six. We were discouraged from doing two-man clearing. Most of the time, that's all we have available.

ALso, each group was taught by a diferent person. I don't think any two groups did it the same. The Academy had two SWAT/SRT teams come in to instruct and every group was taught by an individual from one of those teams.

Kind of funny, when the PD has to clear a school or large building, they ask for our assistanee and the assistance of the UPD. When we have a large building, we have the two or three of us take care of the whole thing.

My Dept. has done it a few times, but for somee reason, we always have a larger clearing element than midnight shift ever has people working (working, not necessarily available). I was also told by one of the instructors last time that he would never clear a building without a long gun. Well, Scooter, my long guns don't have lights and I'm not allowed to add one, so a pistol (with a light) and a flashlight, it is. Tried that long gun/flashlight/crawling over stuff/can't open the doors game before. I guess I could sling a long gun, just in case, but I never have (might start, though).

I guess they don't train for a two-man clearing element with no perimeter becuase it would reinforce just how screwed we are if someone inside really wants to do us harm.

I was also told by one of the instructors last time that he would never clear a building without a long gun.

Other schools of thought say refrain from bringing long arms into building because of the short distances involved, make it much easier for bad guys to take it away. This was back in the day when an 870 with a 20" barrel was the only option, and weapon light... what's a weapon light?

Not saying I agree with it 100% of the time, but yet another consideration.

Other schools of thought say refrain from bringing long arms into building because of the short distances involved, make it much easier for bad guys to take it away. This was back in the day when an 870 with a 20" barrel was the only option, and weapon light... what's a weapon light?

Not saying I agree with it 100% of the time, but yet another consideration.

Part of the reason I opted for the 14.5" barrel AR. I can maneuver it easily, even in buildings, but without a mounted light, on midnights, it's use is limited.

i went through Cleveland Heights back in 1997. We spent a few days on building searches. We got sim guns and went through an abandoned nutter home or something.

Your real building search education is going to be on the job anyway with your FTO and fellow officers.

Like others have said, rule one, weapon light! rule two, spare light on your belt. I don't care if you're on dayshift, buildings can be dark during the day.

edit---
long gun depending on what type of building. we just had a to search a house and our 14" Benelli shotguns and 16" rifles were a hindrance moving around the attic crawl spaces. I actually got stuck on broken furniture when I was trying to grab a suspect in the crawl space.